INMO calls for routine testing of hospital staff

THE nurses’ union has called for routine Covid-19 testing of all staff in acute hospitals amid concern at the high numbers of healthcare workers contracting the virus.

Phil Ní Sheaghdha, general secretary of the INMO, said: ‘We know the virus is in many cases asymptomatic. It is not enough to say we will test if you develop symptoms or if you are a close contact.

‘We want routine testing of all workers in acute hospital settings.’ She said nursing staff numbers were running very short, and that a large proportion of nurses had become sick, and were recovering from Covid-19.

‘Recovery is proving challenging. People don’t just recover quickly and return to work, particularly those who are getting infected at work,’ she added.

A survey of INMO members found that it was taking up to 16 or 17 weeks for people to recover from the virus, and she said there was not enough known about the longterm effects. ‘So, we are very concerned about the continuing number of healthcare workers who are getting infected… 34% of them are nurses, 21 nurses have been admitted to intensive care units in this country as a result of having contracted Covid-19,’ she told RTÉ News at One.

‘We now want proper protections for staff. We know from the WHO’s information that when you are fatigued at work, wearing PPE, that you are more likely to become infected yourself.

The HSE said last night that there were no current plans to test all of the country’s healthcare workers serially.

‘The decision to carry out testing is made by the National Public Health Emergency Team,’ it said.

Ms Ní Sheaghdha said that the INMO wanted the Health and Safety Authority to inspect hospitals for employee safety.

‘Because these are workers, these are women in the majority who go to work, and as a result of their work they are now becoming unwell with a very serious infection and have serious long-term consequences,’ she said.

The HSA has said that it, too, is working on a response.